Weddings

Families

About

I got to spend the morning with the Gordon family and their sweet, sweet baby, Emma Rose.

As I write this, my own sweet “baby” — who is almost four — is howling away upstairs because he doesn’t want to go bed. This is a daily occurrence, and one I don’t expect to miss when he’s grown. But still, even at these difficult moments, there is a little sadness in knowing that it’s all going to inevitably pass, and so quickly. One of the struggles of parenthood is the conflict between wanting to move on to an easier phase as quickly as you can, and wanting to remember every small detail of the one you’re currently in. And that’s why I like the documentary approach to family photography. You end up a set of photos that will take you right back to that time in your life, to those squishy little legs and tiny cries and gummy smiles. You get to see yourself as a parent, something that is hard to do while you’re in the thick of parenting. And most importantly, your children get to see it when they’re grown. I’m not opposed to posing folks in parks, but for authenticity’s sake, it’s hard to beat a photo of Charles comforting his baby girl in her nursery, or Nannette’s wide smile as she lifts Emma Rose out of the stroller.

Charles and Nannette, thank you for letting me come be a part of your lives, if only for a morning. I hope you and Emma Rose will treasure these photos and that they’ll take you right back to the joys of this stage in your lives.

April and Clay brought their two little ones all the way from Alaska to visit family in Blacksburg, and we carved out time for a little mini session during their stay. If you’ve been a long-time reader, you might…

What do you do when it’s raining, it’s pouring, and you’d really rather be snoring but there are two small children at your house and so you have to get up and do something even though you’re exhausted and…

The Wilsie family and the Gibbs family have a lot in common. We’ve both got two kids, at about the same ages. We’re both photographer families. Jenn and Ross do beautiful family and wedding work in the NRV. And you…

I was delighted when Stephanie wrote to me to say she wanted to try an in-home family documentary session. And she had the perfect reason: they are building a new house, and wanted to commemorate their time in this one…

My daughter, Caroline, aboard the Polar Express in North Carolina. This is one of my new favorite photos. Having already guzzled down a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and eaten a cookie and a large portion of…

Being a photographer parent is sometimes complicated. On the one hand, yes, I do get lots of nice photos of my kids, particularly of candid moments. And it’s easy to frame nice prints or make books and videos whenever…